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Japanese Gov't eyes relaxing nuclear safety checks
NOTE: I will be at the Health Physics Society Meeting and then out of the country
(Feb 15 - March 11). There will be no news distributions during this time unless I find
some good internet connections.
Index:
Japanese Gov't eyes relaxing nuclear safety checks
Lab Workers Exposed to Toxic Metal
====================================
Japanese Gov't eyes relaxing nuclear safety checks
TOKYO, Feb. 12 (Kyodo) - The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency on Tuesday
began a review of its safety check system for nuclear power plants, in response to
calls by power utilities for relaxation.
Convening the first meeting of an advisory subpanel on the issue, the agency
affiliated with the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) asked it to discuss
whether to allow power companies themselves to check on the safety of nuclear
facilities.
Electric power companies are calling for such deregulation to improve the efficiency
of safety checks, currently conducted by the agency every 13 months centering on
major nuclear facilities.
The firms want the government to limit its role to inspecting the companies' own
checks instead of directly carrying out inspections.
Major topics for discussion at the subpanel, under a METI advisory panel on natural
resources and energy, include whether to extend the 13-month inspection cycle and
ways to check old nuclear power plants.
It will also discuss whether to allow different types of checks for plants running on
different conditions, and determine the effects of the current security check regime
introduced following Japan's worst nuclear accident in 1999 in the village of
Tokaimura, Ibaraki Prefecture.
Panelists representing power companies told the meeting that the current inspection
system is too inflexible to reflect technological progress.
But other panelists expressed distrust at the idea of companies conducting their own
checks, citing the accident in September 1999 at a nuclear facility of JCO Co., a
wholly owned subsidiary of Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., which resulted in the deaths
of two JCO workers.
-------------------
Lab Workers Exposed to Toxic Metal
CHICAGO (AP) - Tests show seven current or former workers at Argonne National
Laboratory have blood abnormalities caused by exposure to the toxic metal
beryllium, the first such cases discovered at the lab.
The seven have been referred to medical specialists to determine whether they have
beryllium disease - an incurable lung illness that has killed several workers in the
nuclear industry.
``We regret that their exposure has caused them physical harm,'' said Brian Quirke,
spokesman for the U.S. Department of Energy, which owns Argonne. The facility in
suburban Chicago does research in high-energy physics, chemistry and materials
science.
The cases were discovered during recent testing by the Energy Department, which
was conducting a nationwide screening program of potential beryllium victims.
Beryllium is a strong, lightweight metal that has been used for decades in nuclear
weapons and research experiments. Workers who inhale small amounts of beryllium
dust have a lifelong risk of developing the illness.
Argonne, which has used beryllium since the 1940s, reports that about 1,775 current
and former workers have had potential exposure to beryllium dust. But currently no
one works with the metal in a manner that could create dust, Argonne spokeswoman
Donna Jones Pelkie said.
The facility ``puts worker and public health and safety first in all its research and has
done so for more than 50 years,'' the company said in a statement.
Tests of 97 former workers at Argonne and Site B, a former laboratory at the
University of Chicago, showed that six of them have blood abnormalities. Of the 48
current Argonne workers who were screened, one had a blood abnormality.
Officials disclosed few details about the seven cases, but described workers' jobs as
welder, scientist, truck driver, technician and clerical worker. Three of the seven
worked at Site B, which used beryllium to construct the world's first atomic bomb.
As of December, the Energy Department has screened 27,835 workers nationwide,
with 183, or less than 1 percent, showing beryllium disease. Tests show 546 had
blood abnormalities.
On the Net: Department of Energy: http://www.energy.gov
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sandy Perle Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100
Director, Technical Extension 2306
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Service Fax:(714) 668-3149
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